faculty – Page 4

This fall, Wesleyan welcomes 43 new faculty to campus of which 24 are ongoing members of the campus community. Fourteen are tenure-track, eight are professors of the practice, two are adjunct, and 19 are visiting (read about the new visiting faculty in this story). In addition, two new members of the Wesleyan faculty are graduates of Wesleyan. Wesleyan's new scholar-teachers bring diverse skills, passions, and research interests to the university including Indian sectarian violence, costume design, animal behavior and neurophysiology, Japanese pedagogy, post-structural semiotics, structural inequalities in education, digital media analysis, and more. Bios of the new, ongoing faculty are…

Nineteen visiting faculty, including fellows, scholars, and postdoctoral researchers, join Wesleyan for the 2021-22 academic year. Their academic interests include high altitude ecosystems, Muslim political masculinities, Indigenous cultural studies, epidemiology and public health, 20th-century continental philosophy, pharmacoengineering, social media's effects on adolescent development, and more. Their bios are below: Alisha Butler, Provost Equity Fellow in the College of Education Studies, is a mixed-methods researcher whose work draws on interdisciplinary perspectives to interrogate the overlapping ecologies of schools, neighborhoods, and cities that shape students’ and families’ experiences in schools. This work includes studies of school-family and school-community partnerships. Her dissertation leveraged…

During the Center for the Humanities Lecture Series, nine scholars explored the theme of "Dirt" throughout the fall 2020 semester. The theme explored the material ecologies and symbolic currencies of filth, waste, toxicity, and contamination alongside ideas of purity, hygiene, and cleanliness to address and reframe a range of contemporary environmental and cultural urgencies. Through various topics, the scholars discussed uses and abuses of dirt and its various political, religious, sexual, ethnic, racial, and ecological significations. The topics and speakers included: "Projected Resonances: Intersections of Sound, Performance, and Tourism Underground at Mammoth Cave" by Paula Matthusen, associate professor of music;…

Starting last March, Information Technology Services and the Center for Pedagogical Learning began offering a number of workshops to assist faculty in the transition to remote teaching. Wesleyan is using Zoom, a cloud-based video and online chat platform ideal for distance education, and Moodle, an open-source learning management system for the majority of online teachings. Workshop topics include how to schedule and start a Zoom meeting, meeting controls, sharing a Zoom recording, managing Zoom breakout rooms, and using Moodle. The training workshop videos are online here. In addition, this fall 30 faculty are participating in the newly established Remote Teaching Cohorts.…

Eight Wesleyan faculty members are retiring at the end of the 2019–20 academic year. They include: RICHARD ADELSTEIN Woodhouse/Sysco Professor of Economics (2010–2020) Professor of Economics (1990–2020) Associate Professor of Economics (1981–1990) Assistant Professor of Economics (1976–1981) Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics (1975–1976) IRINA ALESHKOVSKY Adjunct Professor of Russian Language & Literature (2003–2020) Adjunct Associate Professor of Russian Language & Literature (1995–2003) Adjunct Assistant Professor of Russian Language & Literature (1992–1995) Adjunct Lecturer of Russian Language and Literature (1987–1992) Teaching Associate in Russian Language and Literature (1983–1987) (more…)

Steven Greenhouse ’73, P’08, author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor, spoke in the College of Letters Library on October 29 to a group that included Professor of History Ron Schatz's class on American Labor History on Oct. 29, in the College Of Letters Library. His topic was "White Collar, Blue Collar and Gig Workers: What is the Future of American Labor?" The lecture was sponsored by the History Department and the College of Letters. Greenhouse is a former New York Times labor reporter, and a review by Zephyr Teachout of Greenhouse's book…

Erik Grimmer-Solem, professor of history and German studies, is the author of a new book, Learning Empire: Globalization and the German Quest for World Status, 1875-1919, published by Cambridge University Press. The book "reconstructs the complex entanglements of a small but highly influential group of German scholars who worked and travelled extensively in North and South America, Japan, China, Southeast Asia, Ottoman Turkey, and Russia," during the period of German imperialism, before the First World War, Grimmer-Solem said. "These experiences, enabled by new transcontinental railways, intercontinental steamship lines, and global telegraph networks, shaped a German liberal imperialist ideology that they helped…

Khachig Tölölyan, professor of letters, professor of English, was honored as the preeminent scholar of diaspora studies in general, and the Armenian Diaspora in particular, at the International Conference for the Society of Armenian Studies held at the University California, Los Angeles, on Oct. 12–13. The conference, titled “Diaspora and ‘Stateless Power’: Social Discipline and Identity Formation Across the Armenian Diaspora During the Long Twentieth Century" marked the association's 45th anniversary, and drew scholars from Italy, Mexico, France, Armenia, England, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, and around the United States. They came to present new papers and to hear Tölölyan’s keynote…

This fall, Wesleyan welcomes 48 new faculty to campus. Of those, there are 16 tenure-track, 10 professors of the practice, one artist-in-residence, one adjunct, and 20 new visiting faculty members. The new faculty bring a diverse skill set to campus. Among them are experts in international political economy; Indian cinema and film; environmental archaeology and ancient DNA; German poetry and aesthetic theory of the 18th century; music and expressive culture in Kazakhstan; politics in the African diaspora; Russian and Anglo-American literature; physiological and psychological effects of alcohol; and digital video production. In addition, three are Wesleyan alumni. Bios of the…

This year's Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns, “Understanding Russia: A Dramatic Return to the World Stage,” will be held Oct. 11–12. It begins on Friday with a keynote address by Andrew Meier ’85, a former Moscow correspondent with Time. On Saturday, a full day of panel discussions led by Wesleyan professors and alumni who are leaders in their field will be available to registrants. The Shasha Seminar, an educational forum for Wesleyan alumni, parents, and friends, explores issues of global concern in a small seminar environment. Endowed by James Shasha ’50, P’82, the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns supports lifelong learning and encourages…

In recognition of their career achievements, the following faculty members are being appointed to endowed professorships, effective July 1, 2019: Frederick Cohan, professor of biology, is receiving the Huffington Foundation Professorship in the College of the Environment, established in 2010. Susanne Fusso, professor of Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies, is receiving the Marcus L. Taft Professorship of Modern Languages, established in 1880. William Johnston, professor of history, is receiving a John E. Andrus Professorship of History, established in 1981. Ethan Kleinberg, professor of history and professor of letters, is receiving the Class of 1958 Distinguished Professorship, established in 2008. Tsampikos…

In 2018–19, six Wesleyan faculty retired from Wesleyan. They were honored during the 187th Commencement ceremony on May 26 and during a special ceremony at the Wasch Center for Retired Faculty. The faculty include: Douglas Charles Professor of Anthropology (2000 – 2019) Associate Professor of Anthropology (1994 – 2000) Assistant Professor of Anthropology (1986 – 1994) Ronald Ebrecht University Organist (1988 – 2019) Artist-in-Residence, Music (2011 – 2019) Laura Grabel Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science and Society (2008 – 2018) Fisk Professor of Natural Sciences (1996 – 2008) Professor of Biology (1995 – 2018) Associate Professor of Biology (1989…

New, Ongoing Faculty are Experts on Japanese Pedagogy, Costume Design, Immersive Media

New Visiting Faculty Bring Vast Academic Interests from High Altitude Ecosystems to Pharmacoengineering

Scholars Explore the Theme of “Dirt” Through Center for the Humanities Series

Wesleyan Offering Wealth of Resources for Remote Teaching, Learning

Wesleyan Honors 8 Retiring Faculty

Greenhouse ’73, P’08 Lectures on the Past and Future of American Labor

Grimmer-Solem Authors Learning Empire

Tölölyan Honored as Preeminent Scholar of Diaspora Studies

Wesleyan Welcomes 48 New Faculty, Postdocs, Scholars

“Understanding Russia: A Dramatic Return to the World Stage” Topic of 2019 Shasha Seminar

6 Faculty Receive Endowed Professorships

6 Faculty Retire from Wesleyan in 2018-19